THE MASTER PLAN
The link to freedom has been opened. Absolutely divine intervention! Oh dear seeker, this is the great escape! Amazing! This is a master plan as found in Romans 6, the chapter under study. Paul has used it to challenge us to seek freedom. We must want it badly enough to do what is necessary to obtain it. Picture yourself being chained—given a life sentence with no chance for release. Your taskmaster has no mercy. His measly wages is your ultimate death which you will only receive at the end. But here comes a deliverer—a King who is willing to divest Himself of His palatial estate. Even worse than that, He had to die an ignominious death to ransom you, notwithstanding He was faultless. He left you a message which reads: there is a way of escape through Me; there is only one thing—you have to die. The watery grave of baptism is your escape route. You took it. Only one thing, after some time you renege on your promise to be faithful (break your word). You are again made captive.
This is Paul’s worrying sentiment: How can you that are dead to sin live any longer therein?
Since God is a merciful God, (“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” John 3:16) who will not allow us to die because He sent His son, Jesus “to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound.” Isaiah 61:1, second part. All who receive it, “restoration full and complete” is available, as rightly, “whom the Son set free, is free indeed.”
This is now where 1 John 3:9 finds its fulfilment, namely: “whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.” This is now where sin cannot find an answering chord. This gives us the hope that when our names come up in review before God, He will just see the similitude of His Son and declare us righteous. Praise the Lord! This should be our joy and our song. Why, the songwriter captured it with the song: “When Jesus comes, the tempter’s power is broken; when Jesus comes to stay.” It is wholly grace.
Belief must take us there. We must believe that we have been baptized into His death. We must believe that just as Christ died to sin, that our old man—our old nature—is crucified. After which we become new creatures. “Therefore,” declares Paul, “if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold all things are become new.” 2 Corinthians 5:17
We must come to that point; we must by faith grasp the means provided. We must redeem the time. Paul’s inspired lesson is as much for us as it was for his written audience. Truly, what is impossible to man is possible with God. This is the wonder of redeeming love. Undeniably, this is the grand culmination of Genesis 3:15: “And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise His heel,” as spoken by God to the arch deceiver—the enemy of our souls, the founder of the law of sin and death.
ANOTHER QUESTION OF IMPORTANCE
Those who have understood this to be a means to an end, but sense that they have deeply backslidden or never had the full truth with respect to God’s binding moral law may be asking: Do I need to be re-baptized? Let us hear what Spirit of Prophecy points out under the title: “When Rebaptism is Appropriate”: “The honest seeker after truth will not plead ignorance of the law as an excuse for transgression. . . . He reveres God’s law as holy, just, and good, and he repents of his transgression. By faith he pleads the atoning blood of Christ, and grasps the promise of pardon. His former baptism does not satisfy him now. He has seen himself a sinner, condemned by the law of God. He has experienced a death to sin, and he desires again to be buried with Christ by baptism, that he may rise to walk in newness of life. This is a subject which each individual must conscientiously take his position upon in the fear of God. The duty of urging belongs to no one but God.” –The Faith I Live By, p. 148
In addition, as pointed out in the book Steps to Christ, “There are those who have known the pardoning love of Christ and who really desire to be children of God, yet they realize that their character is imperfect, their life faulty, and they are ready to doubt whether their hearts have been renewed by the Holy Spirit. To such I would say, do not draw back in despair. We shall often have to bow down and weep at the feet of Jesus because of our shortcomings and mistakes, but we are not to be discouraged. Even if we are overcome by the enemy, we are not cast off, not forsaken and rejected of God. No; Christ is at the right hand of God who also maketh intercession for us- said the beloved John, ‘These things I write unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.’ 1 John 2:1.” –Steps to Christ, p. 64
At this time, it is important to point out to a few groups of people that are playing a dangerous game of chance, gambling with their soul’s salvation; they do not see the urgency of escape. Example: That one who is shying away or “waiting until they are ready” is forsaking their own escape from the law of sin and death and risk the time when there will be “no more sacrifice for sin,” when probation is closed, when the acceptable time is passed. Why will you die when there is hope, when there is deliverance? It is even in your mouth. Tomorrow is not promised. There is the story of a young man who was mortally wounded in battle. On realizing his own life ebbing away, and having known the truth, instead of calling for a Medic, quickly asked for a pastor to come to baptize him. There was no pastor on the front line. There was no water.
To those who are preparing for baptism, and are studying and never coming to a decision or have doubts, or are procrastinating—leaving it for a more convenient day—to you Paul would say, “And now why tarriest thou? arise, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord.” Acts 22:16.
Dear Friend, the loudest the Holy Spirit speaks to someone’s heart is at the time of his or her initial conviction of light; after that there are often “hooks on which to hang your doubt,” placed by the enemy, causing the Spirit’s voice to get softer and softer. Of a fact the Spirit of God does not strive with flesh at all times. Therefore, “today if you hear His voice, do not harden your heart” and seek to be like the Ethiopian man in Acts 8 :26–39 who, on being taught and being convicted by the Holy Spirit made a decisive move and on seeing water he declared, “Here is water; baptize me.”
Finally, those that once were baptized and have backslidden are forgetting that Christ says, “I am married to the backslider.” He is seeking to set you free again; to justify you while there is still sacrifice for sin. Sin is not to be trifled with. Sin is offensive to God. It may be that you did not realize the great import of baptism. Christ is reaching out to you and saying, “Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.” Isaiah 1:18. While mercy lingers He bids, “return unto Me.”
Why is baptism so important? Because it is the means through which God has designated to escape from the law of sin and death. Through John the Baptist’s work in the wilderness many had the conviction and sought baptism, confessing and repenting of their sins. To Nicodemus, Jesus made it plain: “Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except (unless) a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.” John 3:5. In Mark 16:16 it says “He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved. . . . ” Sadly, many miss this simple yet conditional portal to life everlasting.
Yet again the word of God says, “how can they hear without a preacher?” It is therefore imperative that Christ and Him crucified must ever be placed before the people. So like Paul, men of God, it is incumbent on you to give “meat in due season;” it is incumbent on you, Bible workers, pastors, to have men and women brought to a point where they will sooner rather than later make decisions after consistent Bible studies, bringing the candidate to the foot of the cross where he will see the utter sinfulness of his or her sin; where the Holy Spirit is waiting with its softening dew to rain righteousness and peace; where, under conviction, will say, “Here is water; baptize me.”
In continuation, as you come to the close of this article you may still be asking, where do I start? Start at the cross! Christ said, “And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto Me.” John 12:32. As you kneel, be mindful of what happened to our Sin Bearer. As says the Pen of Inspiration: “The theme that attracts the heart of the sinner is Christ, and Him crucified. On the cross of Calvary, Jesus stands revealed to the world in unparalleled love. . . . Beholding Jesus upon the cross of Calvary arouses the conscience to the heinous character of sin as nothing else can do.” –The Review and Herald, November 22, 1892
Appreciate what this freedom cost. You only need to read and believe Isaiah’s report namely:
“Surely He hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem Him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But He was wounded for our transgressions; He was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon Him; and with His stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned everyone to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed, and He was afflicted, yet He opened not His mouth: He is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so He openeth not His mouth. He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare His generation? For He was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was He stricken. And He made His grave with the wicked, and with the rich in His death; because He had done no violence, neither was any deceit in His mouth. Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise Him; He hath put Him to grief: when thou shalt make His soul an offering for sin, He shall see His seed, He shall prolong His days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in His hand. He shall see of the travail of His soul, and shall be satisfied: by His knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for He shall bear their iniquities.” Isaiah 53:4–11
Dear one, bring this two thousand year old occurrence to life. Take it from a dry theory to an encounter; grapple with the truth that your sin as well as mine—all of ours, from Adam to Eve—that He who knew no sin, became sin for us. As you reflect on yourself and your conscience has been stirred—it should now make a contentious individual to “hate sin with a perfect hatred,” as stated by the Pen of Inspiration. It should cause us to see the dreadful character of sin and what it cost. With this reality, with this coming to yourself as it did to me, and feeling genuine heart sorrow brought about by the conviction of the Holy Spirit, remember the principles outlined in part one, and by faith believe that you have again entered “into” Jesus ,”into” His death and “into” His resurrection and that you have newness of life in Christ.
The Spirit of Prophecy points out, “this is where thousands fail; they do not believe that Jesus pardons them personally, individually. They do not take God at His word. It is the privilege of all who comply with the conditions to know for themselves that pardon is freely extended for every sin. Put away the suspicion that God’s promises are not meant for you. They are for every repentant transgressor. Strength and grace have been provided through Christ to be brought by ministering angels to every believing soul. None are so sinful that they cannot find strength, purity, and righteousness in Jesus, who died for them. He is waiting to strip them of their garments stained and polluted with sin, and to put upon them the white robes of righteousness; He bids them live, and not die.” –Steps to Christ, p. 52
LIVING FAITH
“Now the just shall live by his faith,” declares Habakkuk. A verse in the book of Acts enjoins us: “Purify your heart by faith.” We as a people have not tapped into this aspect of life in Christ with its far reaching results. Practice is rare. In principle we have taken a hold of “the faith of Jesus,” but in practice we need a faith that worketh by love. It may be that our death to sin in baptism may not have previously brought us to the experience of claiming the nature of Christ—the divine nature—hence our lack of living faith, in line with the early disciples, to also receive the manifestation of the Holy Spirit.
DIE DAILY
To enter into the experience, to maintain liberty, we are called to die daily to self, to its demands, as Paul says of his own experience, “I die daily;” and like him declare “not I but Christ.” The Spirit of Prophecy affirms: “Give all, Take all.” Daily give yourself to God. Give Him your will. Take all that He has and is. “Consecrate yourself to God in the morning; make this your very first work. Let your prayer be, ‘Take me, O Lord, as wholly Thine. I lay all my plans at Thy feet. Use me today in Thy service. Abide with me, and let all my work be wrought in Thee.'” –Steps to Christ, p. 70. Thus you are sanctified.
It is worth noting that many make the mistake and think that they have a lifetime to enter into this experience and go back and forth between the flesh and the spirit, thinking that it is their best; not realizing that the sanctification process deems one righteous—holy—at every step of the way, as they continue in the life and will be thus for a lifetime, as they grow in grace. At the same time, bear in mind that when one commits sin as a result of taking their eyes off Christ, justification is again necessary and must be sought.
THE FINAL QUESTION
What do we do with the law? Yea, it is now established, enshrined on the tables of our hearts, as it were, written, where obedience becomes a natural outflow of the inward working of the Spirit. Says Paul: “Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid: yea. we establish the law.” Romans 3:31. The spirituality of the law, that is. The letter of the law the righteous will go far beyond, as they are now born of the Spirit and are now being led by the Spirit as per 1 Timothy 1:9–10, “Knowing this, that the law is not made for a righteous man, but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and for sinners, for unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers, For whoremongers, for them that defile themselves with mankind, for menstealers, for liars, for perjured persons. . .” And so we find that the written code had its weakness, “For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.” Romans 8:3-4. Consequently Paul concluded that he “be found in Him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith.” Philippians 3:9
Thank God that we have been delivered from this body of death, and, like Paul, all who can appreciate it will say, “I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.” Romans 7:25
May God grant us His continued grace, as now having been loosed from the bondage of the law of sin and death and made partakers of the divine nature, may we yield ourselves unto Him “as instruments of righteousness” and that we may be, in fact, faithful to Christ, our new Master, where we find rest, where His yoke is easy and His burden light.
Rose Powell